Bloody Books Review:The Sabbat Worlds Crusade - 2019 Edition (by Dan Abnett)

An update to the lovely, if rather slim, book that Black Library put out in 2005 that delved into the (then) known history of the campaign of the same name that Dan Abnett came up with to set his Gaunt’s Ghosts stories, which brings with it all the pomp and attention to detail that the Black Library have developed over the intervening 14 years. And honestly as a celebration of Black Library’s longest running single-author series it’s a helluva package. The covers are a lovely blue with gold trim (swapped for purple & gold on subsequent printing) with gold-edging on the pages. Within the book continues the conceit of the original Sabbat Worlds Crusade sourcebook, that of being written by an Imperial historian.

But whilst that first book explored the Crusade to liberate the Sabbat Worlds up to the events of Sabbat Martyr, this edition brings us bang up to date by going as far as the events of The Warmaster and Anarch, a commission by the noble worthies of Urdesh to celebrate the Forgeworlds liberation and of Ibram Gaunt himself. And gosh does it succeed.

Effectively it’s a case of more is more as we get more artwork of the Tanith 1st, their allies and enemies, we get more of the over-arching campaign against the legions of the Sanguinary Stars, of the Crusade to push them out of the Sabbat Worlds, and given how Saint Sabbat herself and the current Crusade have been incorporated into the lore within the Adepta Sororitas and Astra Militarum Codices it’s clear that Games Workshop consider the setting an important part of the Warhammer 40k. If you can find a copy for a decent price? Go for it.